The present invention relates to a component mounting apparatus for mounting a component on a predetermined substrate by sucking the component, and more particularly to a component mounting apparatus for selecting a desired component mounting head from a plurality of component mounting heads held by a holding section so as to mount the component on a component mounting section.
There are growing demands for the development of an apparatus for mounting electronic components on an electronic circuit substrate having various functions, because the kinds of electronic components and configurations thereof have been diversified in recent years. It is necessary to replace a component sucking nozzle as well as a claw for regulating the position of a component according to the size of the component to be sucked by the component sucking nozzle, the kind of components and the kind of operation. The present applicant proposed an apparatus for automatically exchanging a component mounting head in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. 63-16700.
According to the above apparatus, a plurality of component mounting heads, each comprising a component sucking nozzle and a claw for regulating the position of a component sucked by the component sucking nozzle, are removably installed on a component mounting section. The apparatus further comprises a component holding section which holds the component mounting heads. A predetermined component mounting head selected from the component mounting heads is installed on the component mounting section.
According to this apparatus, it is not until the cause of a failure in mounting the component is investigated that an erroneous component has been mounted on the component mounting section. Then a countermeasure is taken, which requires much time and labor.
Such erroneous mounting of a component occurs due to the erasure of the contents stored in the storage section of a control device caused by the occurrence of an abnormality, such as a power failure, or due to the input of undesired information to the contents stored in the storage section, caused by the mixing of the noise of an electric wave into a signal. Thus, the control section is incapable of deciding whether or not a predetermined component mounting head has been selected.